Stealing Time
by ywur
Summary: Rose finds her way back into our Universe but makes a miscalculation, ending up at Stormcage in 5125 where she meets the mysterious and wonderful River Song. Rated M for later chapters. Rose/River mostly, but a necessary amount of Rose/10.5 and River/11.


River Song was sitting in her cell, like always, reading up a bit on the Earth's history. She had borrowed a book from the Stormcage Library, well, several actually. They sat piled up so that they easily stacked higher than the edge of River's small bed. She shifted, brining her knees into her chest and pushing her back against the wall before turning the page. The bit of Timelord DNA gave River an advantage when it came to reading. She wasn't nearly as fast of a reader as the Doctor, not by any means, but she wasn't as slow as a typical human either, which meant that she could go through a decently sized book in only a couple of hours. The book she was currently reading was about 21st century Earth, one of her favorites, probably because it was the century that her parents mostly lived in.

Suddenly, a wind rushed through the closed hallway. River didn't look up from her book, but a large smile spread across her face. She listened for the distinct sound that always came with the wind. It was a wonderfully horrible sound, like two pieces of metal scrapping against one another. Moments passed. River stole a glance up.

There was no blue box stationed outside her cell. No crazy Timelord here to whisk her away. No bowties, no fezzes, not even a Roman stood on the other side of her bars. River put the book down and crossed the short distance to the bars. She put both hands on the bars and attempted, unsuccessfully, to get a better view down the hallway. Nothing. There was nothing out there.

River looked at the floor, about to turn around when there was a flash of light. It was magnificently bright and a very large bang accompanied it.

River looked up again. There was a blonde woman standing in front of her. She had a large yellow button hanging from a chain around her neck, and a device, not all that different from a Vortex manipulator on her wrist. "Who are you?" River asked.

The woman looked at her surroundings. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. The woman pressed a few buttons on the watch then held her wrist closer to her mouth. River couldn't help but notice the other woman's supple red lips, and the way her wavy hair seemed to caress her cheeks. "John? Come in John."

River heard another voice coming from the wrist band. 'Of course,' she thought, 'It must be some sort of communication system, but from where?'

"Nope. You didn't say it right," the other voice said, sounding strangely familiar.

The blonde looked exasperated. "Fine then. Bad Wolf to Base, Bad Wolf to Base, do you read me Base?"

River gasped. Bad Wolf? But no, it couldn't be…

"10.5 here, reading you loud and clear Bad Wolf, what is your position?"  
>"No sign of him anywhere." The woman looked at River, seemingly noticing her for the first time. "Oi, you."<p>

River feigned ignorance. "Me?"

"Yeah, where are we?" she began to ask, before correcting herself a bit, "WHEN are we?"

River laughed. "Time travel problems, eh? Remind me a bit of a fellow I know. Can never seem to land in the right time. You're at Stormcage containment facility, 5125."

"Just a bit," the woman replied. "The funny thing is, I think I know you, or, at the very least, you know me, am I right?"

River bit her lip. "I know who you are. Your codename, Bad Wolf, that means something, yeah? Something important, it's your identifying factor, Rose Tyler. Your universe cannon," River pointed to the yellow button, having put all the pieces together, "It brought you here, to me, but why? You're looking for the Doctor aren't you?"

The woman looked taken aback. "Yeah, I am… Rose, I mean, but yeah, I'm looking for the Doctor. Who are you?"

"The name is River Song, sweetie," River said. She returned to her bed, fetched the Vortex Manipulator she conned off an old, flirty friend, and the bag she always kept packed for such emergencies. She pulled out an old, rusted, pen-like device and held it to the lock on her door. A whirring, buzzing noise filled the air and the metal bars swung open. "Now, let's go find the Doctor. Shall we?


End file.
